


Moments In Time

by reeby10



Category: Doctor Sleep (2019)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Kissing, M/M, Minor Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:28:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26435695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reeby10/pseuds/reeby10
Summary: Danny and Billy's relationship over the years, from acquaintances to friends to something else.
Relationships: Billy Freeman/Dan "Danny" Torrance
Comments: 12
Kudos: 51
Collections: King of Exchanges 2020





	Moments In Time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [summerdayghost](https://archiveofourown.org/users/summerdayghost/gifts).



> **ETA:** made some minor changes 2/15/2021

Danny was sitting on the bed in his rented room, head in his hands as he tried to decide whether to go over to the meeting that night. He knew he probably should and he knew Billy at least would welcome his presence, but he still wasn’t sure. The urge to just lay there and stew alone was strong.

Someone knocked on his door and he jerked his head up. There was really only one person that could be, since he’d barely been here a week so far.

“Hey, Danny, you there?” Billy’s already immediately recognizable voice called. “I’m heading to the meeting and I wanted to see if you wanted to walk with me.”

Danny let out a small huff of laughter and let his hands fall as he stood. He glanced in a mirror for a moment before deciding that while he looked a bit haggard, it wasn’t the worst he’d looked since he’d gotten to town. It would do for tonight.

“Yeah, coming,” he replied as he headed for the door.

Billy was standing there with a cautious smile when Danny opened the door. He gave Danny a quick up and down look and nodded his head, apparently concurring that Danny looked at least moderately presentable. Not that it would have been a big deal if he wasn’t, Danny thought, they were headed to Alcoholics Anonymous after all.

“I'm really glad you’re coming to the meeting tonight,” Billy said, leading the way downstairs.

Danny nodded, opting not to voice how just a few hours earlier he’d had to fight down the urge to just up and leave town. He liked the town so far — and liked Billy especially a lot — and wanted to stay somewhere for more than a few weeks, but years of moving and drinking and floating through life while trying not to think or feel was hard to shake. If Billy hadn’t come to get him tonight, he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t have given in.

They walked the rest of the way in silence, though it was much more comfortable silence than Danny was used to. Perhaps it was that he wasn’t alone with his thoughts right now. Perhaps it was just that Billy was so determined to help him and support him.

Either way, Danny appreciated it. Even if he couldn’t bring himself to speak up yet.

⁂

It was early in the morning when Danny made it back home from his shift. He’d been working there a couple of weeks already, and he was so far enjoying it a lot more than he thought he would. He felt useful there, like his life had a purpose other than fucking around. It was nice.

He almost missed Billy as he started to head inside. Danny just saw him out of the corner of his eye there on the porch, and when he turned to look, his eyebrows flew up. Billy looked rough. Late night, no sleep, haunted by his own thoughts rough. That was a look Danny knew all too well, unfortunately.

He debated for only a moment before shutting the door and stepping over to the side where Billy was sitting. Billy barely even acknowledged his presence as he sat next to him.

“Bad night?” Danny asked after a few minutes of silence. He kept his voice soft, like he would for any of the patients at the hospital. It was, he thought, not too different.

Billy nodded and opened his mouth to reply, then shut it and shook his head. Even only seeing his face in profile, Danny could see how wan and worn out he looked. It made his heart hurt to see Billy like this when the man he knew was usually so different, so warm and welcoming.

Slowly, Danny reached out to put a hand on Billy’s arm, waiting until Billy finally looked at him with reddened, deep sunk eyes. Danny smiled even though all he really wanted to do was wrap an arm around Billy’s shoulders and tell him it would all be alright.

“You wanna go get some coffee?” he asked instead. “You look like you could use it.”

Billy nodded again after a moment and they slipped down from the porch and walked the two blocks over to the coffee shop. Danny could feel the exhaustion of a night shift pulling at him as they took a seat at one of the outdoor tables, steaming cups of coffee in hand. It was worth staying awake a few extra hours to be there for Billy, to talk things through if he needed or just sit there awhile.

After everything Billy had done for him since he came to town, it was the least he could do. Besides, Billy deserved to have a shoulder he could lean on. Danny hoped he could be that.

⁂

The clock read half past two in the morning, and Danny was still awake. It wasn’t from lack of trying to sleep — he’d been in bed since ten, tossing and turning, mind running full speed through topics he’d rather not think about. He wanted nothing more than to sleep, but he was starting to think it was time he just gave up for the night.

Groaning, he pushed himself upright, rubbing at his face with both hands as he sat on the edge of the bed. He probably had a book around somewhere that he could try reading, but the thought of it really wasn’t appealing. He could always take a walk, but that especially didn’t sound appealing at close to three in the middle of November.

What Danny really wanted right now, besides sleep, was something that would really take his mind off of his own thoughts. Talking with Billy was always good for that. But it was getting so late it was almost early, and he really shouldn’t wake Billy up just because he couldn’t sleep.

He sat there for several more minutes, fighting internally with himself over what to do, before groaning again and heading for the door. Billy had always said he was welcome to come around whenever. Hopefully he meant it.

Danny made his way downstairs and knocked on Billy’s door, heart beating hard in his chest as he waited. There was a muted shuffling sound, then a minute later, the door opened to reveal Billy’s sleep mussed form.

“Danny?” Billy asked, voice rough and deep from disuse, but his eyes were alert. It made something warm bloom in Danny’s gut, a feeling he hadn’t felt in a long time. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Danny replied quickly, shaking his head. He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, feeling suddenly self conscious. “I just… I couldn’t sleep.”

For a moment, Danny wondered if Billy would just shut the door in his face. But that wasn’t the kind of person Billy was. He knew that, even if he still had a hard time believing he’d found someone so kind and giving to be in his life. To _want_ to be in his life, even.

After everything he’d seen over the years, that felt special.

Billy stepped back a little, clearing the doorway and gesturing for him to follow. “You wanna come in and talk, then?” he asked. “I don’t have coffee, but I have some tea. Might help.”

Danny smiled, the tension he hadn’t even really realized he was holding in his shoulders relaxing as he stepped inside. “Yeah, tea would be good.”

⁂

Danny was just coming down the stairs when Billy stumbled into the hallway. He looked rough, and not the kind of rough Danny’d seen too late at night, not having slept due to nightmares. He looked, frankly, like he’d gotten the shit beat out of him

“Holy shit, Billy, are you ok?” Danny asked, rushing forward. He moved in to support Billy when the other man swayed, looking like he might fall. “What happened?”

Billy gave him a crooked grin, the move bringing up fresh blood from his split lip. “I’m pretty sure this is when I’m supposed to say you should see the other guy, but I’m pretty sure I look worse.”

He looked Billy over again, able to see more of the extent of the damage now that he was closer. Aside from the split lip, Billy had what looked to be a nasty black eye starting to swell up and a cut over one ear that was still bleeding sluggishly. His hair was mussed and there was half wiped off dirt down one side of his body like he’d fallen somewhere outside.

Danny had been in enough bar fights in his day to recognize the look, but he found it hard to believe that was what had happened.

“You look pretty bad, yeah,” Danny replied with a slightly strangled laugh. He wanted to joke around in return, but honestly he was too worried for that right now. He settled for starting to shuffle them down the hallway toward Billy’s room. “So?”

“There was a guy hassling Carol over by the bookstore and he… took exception to my asking him to leave,” Billy said as he clumsily pulled out his key. “I’m just glad I was there instead of her being alone. Who knows what might have happened.”

Danny let out a breath, half laugh and half sigh, at the surge of affection that explanation brought out in him. He’d known since the day they met that Billy couldn’t stop from trying to help people, no matter if there was a possibility he might get hurt in the process. It was one of the things Danny had always admired about him, but he was starting to think that there was more to his feelings about Billy than he’d quite realized.

It’d been a long time since he’d felt like this for anyone that he’d almost forgotten how to.

“Let’s get you sitting down and then I’ll patch you up,” Danny told him, smiling fondly. He felt warm and happy despite the worry that still lingered.

Billy settled onto the couch with Danny’s help, only groaning a little in pain from the bruises he probably had, and Danny headed for where he knew Billy kept his first aid kit. There would be time later to consider the feelings he’d just realized he might have, but Billy needed him now. He was glad he had this chance to help Billy a little after all the ways Billy had helped him since he came to town.

⁂

Danny’s shift at hospice was almost half over when he decided to take his lunch break. He reached for the spot under his desk he usually kept his bag of food and came up empty.

“What in the world?” he muttered to himself, leaning over to verify that his food was indeed not there.

There wasn’t anywhere else it could really be. He never used the staff fridge and he hadn’t seen any ghosts around even if one of them might for some reason want to steal his lunch. Frowning, he thought back to before he’d left for work and realized he didn’t remember actually making one for today.

Which was unfortunate for him. This late at night, there wasn’t anywhere with food open. Not that many of them delivered anyway — one of the downsides of living in such a small town.

Danny had just settled back into his seat, resigned to going hungry for the rest of his shift, when the buzzer at the front door sounded. He frowned, trying to remember if he’d been told about anyone coming in overnight. It happened very rarely that there was a delivery during his shift, but it had happened. He didn’t remember that anything was scheduled for tonight, but if he forgot his lunch, he supposed he could have forgotten that too.

Azzie didn’t budge from his perch on top of the desk when Danny rose and headed for the front door. He could see a figure standing outside, silhouetted through the glass, but there didn’t seem to be any boxes. Weird.

It was just light enough outside for him to make out the face of the figure once he got about two feet away. Danny was grinning by the time he unlocked the door and opened it.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, standing aside to let Billy in.

Billy held up a sack. “I figured it was about time for you to eat, so I thought I’d bring you something.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Danny replied even though he couldn't remember the last time someone had done something so kind for him unprompted. When Billy took him under his wing in the first place, probably. “But thank you. I actually forgot to bring food tonight, so I’m glad to have some.”

“Then it’s a good thing I couldn’t sleep,” Billy said with a wink.

Danny locked the door and they headed back to the desk, where he found an extra chair for Billy to sit in as they pulled food out of the sack Billy brought. It wasn’t like he usually had much company on these shifts other than Azzie, but he found himself thinking it was nice to not be alone for a while. Especially with Billy.

They ate in silence for several minutes. It was comfortable, but Danny could tell there was something else on Billy’s mind. He wondered for a moment if he should say anything, ask what was wrong. Surely they’d known each other long enough now for that.

And really, Danny wanted to help in any way he could, with whatever it was. For how much Billy had helped him since he came to town, yes, but also because he couldn’t stand to see Billy distressed.

It had been a slow realization for Danny to find that he’d fallen for Billy. He’d had a lot of bad relationships over the years, and one of the things he’d wanted in getting a new start was to get away from those. His relationship with Billy, though, was anything but bad. But that was the thing that kept him from saying anything either. He didn’t want to lose the precious friendship he’d built, or threaten the good life he had now.

But he could still be there for Billy, in whatever way the other man wanted or needed.

“You’re awfully quiet tonight, Billy,” Danny said slowly. “Something on your mind?”

“Yeah, I…” Billy trailed off, looking conflicted. He took a deep breath, and Danny braced himself for bad news. “There’s something I realized recently I wanted to do, so I came here, but I just don’t know if it’s a good idea.”

Danny smiled. “I’ve never known you to have a bad idea,” he said. “I don’t know what it is, but I think you should do it if that’s what you want to do.”

Billy looked at him for a long moment, then smiled in return. “I think you’re right.”

He moved forward before Danny could really process what was happening, reaching out to hold Danny’s jaw in a gentle hand as he pressed their lips together. The kiss was electric, and Danny couldn’t help but push into it, deepening the kiss as their tongues slid past one another. He was breathless from it already, but it was a thrill to finally be with Billy this way.

When they pulled apart sometime later, they only moved a few inches away, breathing hotly against each other’s lips. It was intimate like nothing else Danny had experienced, even all those lovers and one night stands from years ago, before he got sober, that had been so wild.

“I definitely think you had a good idea,” Danny murmured, smiling at the huff of laughter that prompted from Billy. “A _very_ good idea.”

“Well, I’m glad you agree,” Billy replied, leaning in for another quick kiss before backing away and picking his food up again. “Now finish your food.”

Danny let out a laugh, feeling incredibly fond, and picked up his own food. There was a warm, contentedness in his chest that had begun the first time he saw Billy years ago and had now been really ignited. He’d built a good life here, but knowing Billy felt the same way was truly something else, something even better.

For the first time since he was a child, Danny thought he could be truly happy.


End file.
